ART TEC
Guy Marsden

SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION LOG

PROGRESS REPORT:
October 24: Heating system upgrades + woodworking

Well, I'm finally back in the saddle -- making furniture.  Since Sunday I have
made 6 mirrors and 1 table for the upcoming Fine Furnishings Show
in Providence.  It has been great to work into the night
when it is in the low 40's outside and not even know it.  I'm working in
my T-shirt just like I did in California!

I took a break from wood working this afternoon to do some system
upgrades.  I added a pump with it's own seperate solar panel to
circulate the water through the heat exchanger.  The new pump
is in the center of the image below:

(Note: I later learned that I had mounted the pump wrong.
It should have it's axis horizontal to prevent wear on it's bushings. I changed it later)

NOTE!  If you are building a system like mine that has circulation pumps that run on solar panels, I am producing an inexpensive Differential Temperature Controller that runs on 12 Volt PV power.  It will increase your system efficiency significantly.

And I added another thermometer so I can see how hot the solar heated
water is before it goes to the propane heater.  Not enough
sun today to run the solar side, but the day has been quite
warm anyway.

The leaves are at their peak on our property -- the grove of aspens
has hit the perfect yellow:

Oh, and here's a picture that I took for the article I'm writing about
my solar project for Home Power Magazine.  It will be printed in
the June/July issue.  Dowload it here.  (255K pdf file)

 

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